|
Schools suspended classes, and cargo and fishing vessels were
prohibited from entering the rough seas along the path of the
typhoon. It was expected to blow into the South China Sea on
Saturday on a course toward southern China, Philippine
forecasters said.
Hong Kong’s observatory said Matmo would pass by the territory
on an expected path toward Hainan Island and the mainland’s
Guangdong province over the weekend.
Matmo, locally known as Paolo, was the 16th tropical cyclone to
hit the Philippines this year. The Southeast Asian archipelago
nation is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms a year and lies
on the seismically active Pacific “Ring of Fire,” making it one
of the countries most prone to natural disasters.
The typhoon was not expected to directly affect the region
further south where a 6.9-magnitude earthquake Tuesday night
killed at least 72 people and injured more than 550 others,
mostly in the Cebu province city of Bogo and outlying towns.
More than 5,000 houses were damaged, and some residents were
staying in parks, grassy clearings and on sidewalks despite
sporadic rain because aftershocks left them too fearful to
return to their homes.
Another storm, Bualoi, caused at least 37 deaths and displaced
thousands in the Philippines last week before hitting Vietnam,
where 49 people died and economic damages were estimated at $485
million.
And Super Typhoon Ragasa, which at its peak was the world's
strongest tropical cyclone of the year, caused several deaths in
the Philippines as it passed by the country before landfall in
southern China.
___
Associated Press journalists Aaron Favila and Joeal Calupitan in
Bogo, Philippines, Aniruddha Ghosal in Hanoi, Vietnam, and Kanis
Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
